Winning blow: knight to a7 (b5·5)
c9-10116naming tag (square·N)Opens in the app if installed, otherwise downloads the APK.
The tactical motive
Chess960 twist: use the unusual starting setup of the pieces.
Winning tactic: there is a move that gains a decisive advantage — find it.
Difficulty 2150 ShuffleRating — expert level — few solve it at first try.
White to move — find the best continuation
How to recognize this tactic
In Chess960 the pieces start on unfamiliar squares, so tactics appear earlier and from unusual angles. Do not trust classical patterns — read the actual lines of the bishops, the rooks and the queen from where they really stand in this position.
This position hides a concrete tactic that wins material or mates. Start with the most forcing candidate moves — checks, captures and threats — and calculate each to a clear end before choosing; the winning line is usually the one the opponent cannot meet.
General method: before you move, list the forcing candidates — every check, every capture, every direct threat — and calculate those first. The solution to a tactic is almost always among them.
Position on the board
White: king e2, queen d6, rook b3, bishop b1, knight b5, pawn c2 h2 e3 a4 g4 c5.
Black: king c8, queen e5, rook f1 b8, bishop g6, knight f3, pawn a7 b7 d7 h7.
11 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 27.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 3 points of material (26 against 29; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on e2, the black king on c8.
It is White to move on move 27, with 37 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b, d.
The White king has 1 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
27. Nxa7+ Kd8 28. Nc6+ Kc8 29. Nxe5
Why it works
- Great move! knight to a7 keeps the pressure (+7.4).
- Well found: knight to c6 (+7.5).
- Precise: knight to e5 is the top choice (+7.7).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Kd8, then Nc6+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 27. Nxa7+ — knight to a7 (capture) with check
- Kd8 — king to d8
- 28. Nc6+ — knight to c6 with check
- Kc8 — king to c8
- 29. Nxe5 — knight to e5 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Royal fork
A fork with check: the king must move, and the second piece is lost.
A royal fork is a fork with check — one of the two targets is the king itself. The check must be answered first, so nobody is left to rescue the second piece. Look for squares where your piece gives check and simultaneously attacks an undefended queen or rook. It is the most reliable fork of all, because your opponent literally has no choice.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #760.
SP-760 · BastionGuard — Both knights begin inside the board while the king stands on c or f; a position and its mirror twin share this family.
The king starts on c1, the rooks on a1 and g1, the queen on h1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from a1 to d1.
The bishops stand on b1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a5 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: e2.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 397.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 2 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +61 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
In 50 self-play games White scored 56.0% (95% CI 42.3–68.8%).
Explore position #760Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 015 · SP-760
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